Mean Girls and the Business of Mankind

Girls are mean

I can say that because I am one

And because it's true

"You'll never know"

That's what she said to my girl, when C asked - "what's your name?"

I could tell you how genuine and kind and sympathetic and big-hearted my girl is...I know I'm biased

But she is all those things

I listened quietly as she processed from the back seat,

"At first I thought she was kidding Mom, but she never did tell me her name...and I think she was serious"

Then she cried 

And I did too

Because she's mine and 

Girls. Are.  Mean.

What if when I woke up today, and tomorrow and every day I had only one objective

One thing to cross of my to-do list

One thing to get right

Love

Love my neighbor as myself

And what if even that snotty, little, "you'll never know" girl is considered my neighbor

Love her like I love my own little girl?  Like I love myself?

Could I check it off?

Could the business of mankind be my every day?

And...

What if one thing

Could be THE thing?

What if we cared about each other the same amount as we care about ourselves?

The man pushing his cart walking up the block, the cashier at the grocery store, 

The barista, the bank teller, the co-worker, the friend, 

The Mom, the sister, the Father, the brother, the husband, the wife, the child, 

The next door neighbor, the student, the teacher, the coach, the player,  

The father-less, the home-less, the well-to-do, 

The hard to get along with, the undeserving, the one who doesn't treat you like you deserve?

The every man, woman and child of mankind 

"Business! cried the Ghost, wringing its hands again.  "Mankind was my business.  The common welfare was my business; charity, mercy, forbearance, and benevolence, were, all, my business.  The dealings of my trade but a drop of water in the comprehensive ocean of my business!"..."Why did I walk through crowds of fellow-beings with my eyes turned down..." -- "A Christmas Carol," Charles Dickens

So I wonder
I wonder if I'm being the neighbor I need to be?
I wonder what my everyday would look like if I made it about this one thing?
And, I wonder what the world would look like?
If my eyes didn't look down?
If they met yours, and saw the need, the hurt, the fun, the happiness, the humanity
And what if I teach her to do the same?
What if we made mankind the business of our everyday?
What if everyone was a neighbor - A neighbor who loved?

...serve one another in love.  The entire law is summed up in a single command: "Love your neighbor as yourself" 

- Galatians 5:13b-14